The Group of Eight have now withdrawn their support for fee deregulation, despite it already having caused fissures in the higher education system. But what are they worried about? And what sort of conversation do they want to have now?

Harvard has around 20 times the investment of Australia’s top-ranked university.
Flickr/YoshiMarch 29, 2015

Education Minister Christopher Pyne claimed his plan to deregulate university fees was essential to boosting Australia's place in the rankings. But no student fee rise will give us close to the level of funds of the top ranked unis.

The government shouldn’t be trying to deregulate one half of the tertiary education sector while re-regulating the other.
Flickr/Stpehen D. StrowMarch 23, 2015